not with the fiscal cliff. luckily for you, we here at "the rachel maddow show," we have been paying attention. we have had absolutely no other choice, unfortunately. and we are here to help you and everyone else trying to figure out how we got to this point we are in. right after that election, the day after the election, in fact, your new colleagues got to work immediately on the cliff. the day after the collection, republican house speaker john boehner put out this stirring call to action. >> mr. president, this is your moment. we're ready to be led. not as democrats or republicans but as americans. we want you to lead. not as a liberal or conservative but as president of the united states of america. >> mr. president, we are ready to be led. just show us the plan. that was encouraging. that seemed like we were going to have a deal, no problem. obama won the election. he'll hand them a plan. he'll make some small changes. that's how congress works, of course. pass it and we'll be done. we'll go home for chri